Healthy Families

[featherynscale]

In the interest of being able to do my job, I get information feeds on employment law and related topics. Today, I got a heads-up on something that sounds pretty good. The Healthy Families Act (proposed in the House and in the Senate) would require any company employing more than 15 people to provide a small amount of paid sick time a year, which could be used either as straight sick time for the employee or as time to care for a sick family member. It's only requiring 7 days of paid time for full-time employees, but that's better than some folks get now.

Here's the kicker: if the act were to become law, it would permit an employee to take sick leave to care for a family member, and the definition built in is this: "...a child, parent, spouse, or any other individual related by blood or affinity who is the equivalent of a family relationship." (Italics mine.) So I'm down with that.

Also, the article says that "Sick leave may be used for a physical or mental absence", which sort of makes me snicker -- if I'm not going to be mentally here, I get paid for the day now, you know?

Also, triadruid made me a new icon. It's gonna go over on thejobfairy too if I ever get around to updating that. Lately it's all been too awful to post. :(

Comments

[kellan-m-solan.livejournal.com]

Meh, I can't count the number of people that have gone on at great length, generally for my benefit regarding how their church congregation adopted them as family and helped them turn their lives around because their upbringing had left something to be desired or whatever. Whoever tried to tell you that must live in a hole.

Additionally, while I'm not exactly the religious right, I'm also not poly. I even get on with my real family just fine. Wouldn't stop me from dropping what I had to take care of one of my close friends given the opportunity and I KNOW I've called on them to do the same. In a world where many of us live in 5+ different cities over the course of our lives, spanning 1000s of miles in many cases, 'Family of Choice' is nothing short of a social reality for almost everybody.